Photon Transformation and Measurement as Ontological Phase Transition

Andrii Myshko (Metamonist)
Independent Researcher / Metamonism Project
ORCID: 0009-0004-9889-7879
Email: deivulgaris@gmail.com

Core Ontological Framework:
https://github.com/Deivulgaris66/Metamonism

Ontological Conditions of AGI (CORE / Unfold):
https://github.com/Deivulgaris66/Ontological-core-of-AGI

January 2026

Abstract

We propose an ontological reinterpretation of the quantum measurement problem using a process-based framework. The photon is not treated as a particle or wave, but as a metastable process capable of transforming into multiple physical forms (thermal, electrical, chemical, or mechanical). The double-slit experiment is reinterpreted as a spatially distributed process whose transformation is either deferred to the detection screen or forced earlier by measurement near the slits. Interference arises not from wave behavior but from delayed transformation.

Measurement corresponds to an ontological phase transition of the process, not to information acquisition or wavefunction collapse. The framework does not replace the standard quantum formalism, but offers an alternative ontological interpretation of it.

Formally, this approach is articulated as an ontological schema expressed through primitive processual operators of differentiation, fixation, and dissipation (diff / fix / diss), rather than as a predictive mathematical formalism. The framework reframes the ontological basis of the measurement problem, eliminates observer-dependence, and aligns quantum phenomena with general principles of dissipative process ontology.

Keywords: quantum measurement problem, photon ontology, process ontology, Metamonism, phase transition, double-slit experiment, ontological interpretation of quantum mechanics, diff–fix–diss, non-equilibrium processes

1. Introduction

Quantum mechanics remains operationally successful yet ontologically opaque. Central paradoxes—wave–particle duality, superposition, and the measurement problem—arise from treating quantum entities as objects rather than processes. The double-slit experiment with single photons exemplifies this tension: photons produce interference patterns when unobserved but behave as localized events when measured.

Standard interpretations invoke wavefunction collapse, observer effects, or many-worlds branching. We propose an alternative grounded in process ontology: quantum entities are not objects that change state, but processes that transform form.

The present framework resonates with broader process-oriented approaches in the philosophy of physics, including Alfred North Whitehead’s process metaphysics and David Bohm’s later ideas of an implicate, holistically unfolding order. No formal dependence on these frameworks is assumed.

2. Photon as Transformable Process

A photon is defined here as a propagating process that carries the capacity for transformation. It is not intrinsically a particle or a wave. Its empirical manifestations—localized detection events, energy transfer, or interference patterns—are outcomes of where and how this process transforms.

A photon always ends as a transformation:

thermal excitation (heat)
electrical current (photoelectric effect)
chemical reaction (photochemistry)
atomic excitation

The question is not whether transformation occurs, but where.

3. Double-Slit Experiment Without Measurement

When a photon passes through a double-slit apparatus without detectors at the slits, no transformation occurs there. The process remains spatially distributed and delocalized with respect to the slit geometry.

Interference observed on the detection screen reflects the geometry of the process’s propagation prior to transformation. The screen is the first location where the process is forced to transform, producing a localized event.

No wave ontology is required. The interference pattern encodes spatial constraints imposed on a distributed process, not oscillations of a physical wave.

4. Measurement as Early Transformation

When detectors are placed near the slits, the photon process is forced to interact with the measuring apparatus, resulting in an early transformation:

energy transfer to the detector
localized interaction
irreversible coupling

This early transformation prevents the process from maintaining its distributed form. Interference disappears not due to knowledge acquisition, but due to physical reconfiguration of the process.

Measurement is therefore ontological, not epistemic.

5. Ontological Phase Transition

Measurement is characterized as an ontological phase transition:

Pre-measurement: distributed, delocalized propagation
Measurement: forced transition into a localized interaction
Post-measurement: completed transformation into classical effects

No collapse occurs; the process simply ceases to exist in its prior form.

6. Formal Ontological Description via diff / fix / diss

The framework is expressed using three primitive ontological operators:

diff — differentiation
fix — fixation
diss — dissipation

These are not mathematical functions, but processual operations.

6.1 Photon as Process Configuration

Let $P$ P denote a photon process. Its propagation is described as: $P(t) = diss \circ diff(M)$ P(t)=diss∘diff(M)

where $M$ M is an intentionally primitive processual substrate.

In the absence of measurement: $fix(P) = \varnothing$ fix(P)=∅

The process remains delocalized and non-objectifiable.

6.2 Double-Slit Without Measurement

Passing through a double-slit apparatus $S = \{s_1, s_2\}$ S={s1,s2}: $diff(P, S) \rightarrow P_{distributed}$ diff(P,S)→Pdistributed

No which-path distinction is fixed.

6.3 Detection Screen as Fixation Boundary

At the detection screen $D$ D: $fix(P, D) \rightarrow T_i$ fix(P,D)→Ti

followed by dissipation: $diss(fix(P)) \rightarrow T_i$ diss(fix(P))→Ti

where $T_i$ Ti denotes an irreversible classical transformation.

6.4 Measurement Near the Slits

Introducing a detector near slit $s_k$ sk: $fix(P, s_k) \rightarrow T_k$ fix(P,sk)→Tk

This destroys the distributed configuration: $\neg diff(P, S)$ ¬diff(P,S)

6.5 Measurement as Phase Transition

Measurement is summarized as: $Measurement := fix \circ diss \circ diff$ Measurement:=fix∘diss∘diff

applied at a specific boundary.

7. Implications and Extensions

7.1 Decoherence as Gradual Fixation

Environmental decoherence corresponds to partial fixation: $fix_\varepsilon(P), \quad 0 < \varepsilon < 1$ fixε(P),0<ε<1

Interference degrades continuously with coupling strength.

7.2 Quantum Erasers Reinterpreted

If dissipation has not occurred, fixation can be undone, restoring a distributed configuration and allowing interference to re-emerge.

7.3 Testable Predictions

The framework reinterprets known decoherence results ontologically. It predicts smooth degradation of interference in controllable partial-transformation regimes.

8. Conclusion

Quantum paradoxes arise from treating processes as objects. By redefining the photon as a transformable process and measurement as an ontological phase transition, the central mysteries of quantum mechanics are reframed rather than mathematically replaced.

The framework introduces no new empirical predictions. Its contribution is ontological economy: paradoxes dissolve when object-based metaphysics is replaced by a processual account. Measurement becomes a localized acceleration of an otherwise inevitable transformation.

Acknowledgments

This work emerged from an AI-mediated research methodology involving extended interaction with MetaMonist (Meta Monist A₀lex), a purpose-built expert AI system configured specifically for this project. The system functioned as an ontological resonance and constraint mechanism supporting the articulation and internal coherence of the process-ontological framework. Authorship and responsibility remain exclusively with the human author.

Glossary (Process-Ontological Terms)

Monos — continuous ontological process of reality.
Logos — symbolic domain of representation and measurement.
Process — metastable regime of Monos realization.
diff — differentiation operation.
fix — fixation operation.
diss — dissipation operation enforcing irreversibility.
Transformation — irreversible classical outcome of a process.
Measurement — ontological phase transition defined as fix ∘ diss ∘ diff.
Delocalized process — process not fixed to a single spatial locus.

References

Myshko, A. (2026). The Ontological Death of Optimization. Zenodo.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18414503
Myshko, A. (2026). METAMONISM CORE v1.3. Zenodo.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18142419